Ladies in Hades and the Dyval Wears Prada

Journal - Trent - Entry 10

There’s no way to accurately describe that feeling – the rush of holding as much mystical energy as you can. Filling yourself with it until you feel like you’re going to burst. When I stand on these lines of mystic power, these “Ley Lines,” it’s easy to get drunk on this power. It feels like there’s nothing I can’t do when I’m at this point. And to a certain extent, that’s true. Magic that’s beyond my normal means becomes easily available to me.

Is doing this any different than my technique to draw on additional ambient energy in order to help power my spells? Yes and no. What I can do on a Ley Line is akin to finding water in the middle of a freshwater lake, or a fresh mountain stream. Any mage or wizard can pull that trick. Wheras my technique, or focus, for magical efficiency would be akin to finding drinking water in the middle of the desert. It’s all about knowing where to look, and how to look.

There’s no feeling I’ve ever had which compares to being pumped up on magical energy at a Ley Line. But once that energy’s gone, I feel a little empty, a little less. Today was just full of going from that incredible power back down to “normal”, and then full of incredible power all over again, going back and forth again and again. I lost count of how many times. I’ve never produced so much in such a short time before, and despite my spells to Sustain me, and to provide Superhuman Endurance, I feel emotionally and spiritually drained.

Very little of the power I threw around today came from me, but I channelled it over and over. Just a fraction of the power which this Ley Line contains, but more than enough! I said I wanted to be prepared, and now I am – as much as I can be right now, anyway. And hopefully that’s good enough.

The day started with those scrolls I took from Pall in exchange for that necklace. Either he really wanted that necklace, or he had no idea of what he really had, because these scrolls were practically a steal! The Mystic Portal was simple to learn, but the others… Dimensional Teleport I screwed up on royally, with explosive results. The Superior Teleport went a little better, but I needed to review it with Retro-Viewing to finally get that one.

I could’ve stopped there, and re-visited the library in Tolkeen with that Teleport spell. But who knows if the Coalition has found it yet or not, and I’d rather not appear in the middle of an unknown situation. Plus, I have more important things to think about – like the Black Vault! I’m still working through my strategy for getting in and out, and whether or not I want to involve Jescha anyone else. I wonder, should I keep all that info in those amulets? Or should I transcribe it in here and then erase those amulets? They would be useful on their own, and I’d hate to risk anyone else getting that information before I’ve had the chance to exploit it. Even though I’ve attuned them to me, that protection could still be dispelled. I’ll have to think on that.

Figuring out those spells was a big relief. But then I needed to get my talismen prepared. This took me a few hours of constantly going out to the Ley Line, filling with that power, and coming back in to the Dimensional Space I’ve been using as my hideout/workspace for the last few days in order to work the magic. I did this more times than I can count. I took precautions, of course – the area is inhabited with refugees still and I’d rather not have them in my way. I made sure I was on the lookout for anyone or anything which may have been hiding (or invisible) nearby, and I made sure I was camoflaged with a Chameleon spell whenever I stepped out.

Just to be on the safe side, I also focused my own mental energies on that masking trick I discovered I could do years ago, the one which saved my life when the Coalition caught me. While I’m doing it, I don’t appear to have any magical power to anyone nearby who can sense such things. If anyone WAS nearby, they shouldn’t have sensed a mage. Even IF they managed to sense the power I was collecting it would’ve been near impossible for them to have seen me.

Nineteen talismen! That’s more than I’ve ever had on me at any time. Like I said, I want to be prepared. I’m not sure which ones, if any, I’ll be sharing with Deacon, Pall or that James fellow. I attuned them all to me anyway, but I can always end then whenever it’s convenient if I decide that some of these will be shared. Of course, the one I made with Jescha will never be shared. Those were just between us, and it’s the only reminder of her I managed to keep.

I recently figured out how to transcribe and store the magical energy of a spell onto paper, creating my own “scrolls”. The rest of my day was taken up with that, and now I’m the proud owner of twenty-four of them! The Energy Sphere spell was invaluable in completing these, as were the energy-storage talismen I created earlier. That Energy Sphere. I lost count of how many times I re-cast that spell and charged it with all the energy I could fill it with. Such a valuable tool to have, when everyone else meets back up with me I’ll have to make sure I have a new, refreshed one ready.

I put most of those scrolls in the pages of a blank journal book I had, so that they were easy to get to and find when I needed them. Only a couple were created as actual scrolls. I did after all tell Pall I would try to re-create the spells I learned from the scrolls as new scrolls, which considering their value for that necklace I guess is only fair after all.

Physically I could easily double what I’ve already produced, but I don’t think I can mentally handle that stress anymore today. To be a constant conduit to so much power… I think I’ve done enough for now. It’s time to give my stressed mind a rest and then get those Black Vault memories from within the Deevil amulets written down. Just in case.